Tagged: Unity Vegan Kitchen

We interrupt our (not so) regularly scheduled 2014 Vegan MoFo theme posts, “Top 20 – Eat Yo’ Veggies Edition” for an overdue (and slightly indulgent) “Vegan News Bites”. Some of this might be old news to many of our readers, but there’s so much that happens in this town, that we hope everybody will have a chance to learn something new! Apologies in advance for the epically long post, but that’s what happens when you combine the incredibly active vegan scene we have here in Austin with a healthy dose of good old-fashioned procrastination.

Vegan-friendly Businesses

We’ll start off with the biggest and most exciting news for Austin vegans: Rabbit Food Grocery is moving into a brick-and-mortar location! Their kickstarter campaign just got 100% funded yesterday, but there’s still a little over two weeks left for you to back their campaign and help them move in. Kickstarter backers can look forward to scoring some awesome RFG swag, groceries delivered to your home, or even a chance at an all-you-can-grab vegan supermarket sweep! In the meantime, you can still order online, and as our readers, you can save 10% off your whole order for the entire month of September! Just enter coupon code “RedHotVegans” at checkout!

Summer is in full swing, and everyone’s taking advantage of the warm weather. Austin vegans are planning up a storm, and with a dessert social, 4th of July cookout, party barge and more in the works, there’s something for everyone in this town. There are some great recurring events coming up, including the June Fruitluck (aka fruit potluck) at Barton Springs tomorrow (June 22nd), a newly created Crafty Night at Unity Vegan Kitchen on Thursday, June 26th, and an Austin Raw Food Diet potluck on Saturday, June 28th. In addition to these recurring events, we’ve quite a few special events on the calendar:

Sunday, June 22nd:

5pm to 7:30pm – NadaMoo!’s Whole ‘Lotta Dessert Social at NO VA Kitchen & Bar tomorrow is a not-to-be-missed fundraiser for the Whole Planet Foundation! It’s not mentioned on the event page, but the event organizers have assured me that this will in fact be an entirely vegan event with desserts, cocktails, and coffee provided by Skull & Cakebones, GoodPops, NadaMoo!, and Chameleon Cold Brew. So far I’ve heard there will be whoopie ice cream pies, pop-tails, and cold brew floats, plus Brad Sorenson from NO VA will be making a vegan dessert as well. For those hoping to watch USA in the World Cup, have no fear, the game will be playing at the bar. Tickets are $10, and you can purchase them in advance on Eventbrite or pay in cash at the door.

Friday, June 27th:

7pm to 10pm – Beets Cafe fans have known for a couple of months now that Austin’s one and only raw restaurant will be shutting its doors indefinitely. To celebrate the great run they had, they’re throwing a farewell celebration. There will be droves of Beets fans, music, and of course, the Beets crew is going to make some delicious raw treats! Let them know how much they meant to the Austin community, and send them off with a bang.

Saturday, June 28th:

All Day – It’s Vegan Pizza Day! This most glorious of holidays will be celebrated with pizza-themed specials at Capital City Bakery from 11am to 7pm. At 12pm the Austin Progressive Vegetarians are hosting a Vegan Pizza Day meetup at Sauced in the Highland Mall. For those looking to throw their own Vegan Pizza Day party, check out our extensive (and recently updated) Austin Vegan Pizza Guide!

9am to 4pm – Head on down to Seguin, TX for a chance to lend a helping hand at the SARA Sanctuary Volunteer Day and Picnic. Get out of the city, get your hands dirty for a good cause, and get animal kisses in return! Vegan food and drinks will be provided (beer & wine for the grown ups), but you’re also welcome to bring any vegan food you like. Their only requirement is that you be an animal lover.

Friday, July 4th:

3pm – BBQ Revolution and the rest of the North Loop House & Yard vegan trailer gang will be hosting a 4th of July Cookout in conjunction with ATX Vegan Drinks! Every trailer in the lot is now entirely vegan (making this the first all-vegan food trailer lot in the world!), as Taco ‘Bout It recently switched their menu to be entirely vegan! All the trailers will be coming up with patriotic specials, from veggie burgers at BBQ Revolution to vegan funnel cake and chick’n and waffles from Unity Vegan Kitchen. Rabbit Food Grocery will also be in attendance, dessert will be provided by Skull & Cakebones, there will be a raffle to raise funds for a local nonprofit, and to top it all off, there will be free beer!

4pm to 8pm – Counter Culture will also be hosting a 4th of July Party on the East Side, with summer classics including vegan corndogs, burgers, slaw, potato salad, strawberry shortcake and more. Enjoy your food while listening to all-American country, roots and rockabilly, and try your chances at the Happy Cow cookbook giveaway!

Sunday, July 6th:

10:30am to 2pm – Mr. Natural’s next monthly vegan brunch falls on the 4th of July weekend, and we cannot be more excited by their patriotic themed brunch! For $16 you get an endless buffet that will include corn dogs, mac and cheeze, fried chick’n, pancakes, chocolate cream pie, apple crisp and so much more! We think it’s really awesome that a vegetarian restaurant has taken on the task of creating a huge, entirely vegan brunch buffet, so we always look forward to these weekends. Expert tip for Mr. Natural brunch newbies – don’t skip out on the agave mustard! It’s a must on the country fried seitan, and whatever else you can think to put it on.

Sunday, August 31st:

12pm to 5pm – The Vegan Party Barge is back! The 5th Annual Vegan Party Barge is officially happening, and while it’s a little ways in the future, you should certainly start planning now (and buy your tickets ASAP, as they always sell out). This year the tickets are $40 (with a $5 discount for AV&VA Members), which includes entrance to the barge, pool noodles for lounging in the water, non-alcoholic drinks and a catered vegan lunch. The barge is BYOB, so pack a small cooler, and enjoy a beautiful day on Lake Travis with a bunch of awesome vegans!

Dan and I are finally back from our long holiday vacation, and couldn’t wait to dive in to all the new vegan options around Austin! We’ve been gone so long, this Vegan News Bites post got a little out of control, but we promise it’s chock-full of interesting Austin vegan news! We’ve spent the last week eating our way through town, and can’t wait to share what we’ve found:

New Vegan Menu Items:

- The much talked about all-vegan brunch buffet at Mr. Natural‘s Cesar Chavez location is starting this Sunday! For $16, or $8 for kids 10 & under, you get your fill of vegan quiche, vegan biscuits and gravy, waffles, tofu migas, tofu scramble and much more! Happening the first Sunday of every month, this could be the start of a very good thing. For this first roll-out of the brunch buffet, Mr. Natural has been generously offering up a bevy of coupons and free meals. Ross of Vegans Rock Austin has coupons that he’ll be handing out at the Vegan Riot event tonight at the North Loop Yard, Lazy Smurf has two free brunches that she’s offering up on her blog, and we at Red Hot Vegans have two free brunches of our own to giveaway! Enter our drawing by commenting below with what you’re most excited about eating on Sunday. Don’t forget to include your name and email, so we can contact you. We’ll randomly pick the winners on Saturday, and shoot you an email to let you know!

- Fountain of Health has been open for a little while now, and has been slowly gathering a devout following with their delicious vegan-friendly Mexican dishes. Located up north at 11800 N. Lamar, it’s one of the few vegetarian restaurants that far north. We couldn’t wait to try it once we got home, and were blown away by how good it was. The menu doesn’t list which items are vegan, but the staff was very helpful, and they had recently changed their non-vegan soy cheese to Daiya, so many dishes had a vegan cheese option. They also mentioned that there is a Facebook page in the works, so hopefully with an online presence, we can help spread the word even further about this amazing restaurant.

- Sauce N Spice, an Indian/Chinese fusion restaurant has opened up next to Veggie Heaven on Guadalupe. We were curious to check it out, as the online menu mentioned that they have vegan options. We tried a few dishes, and all were delicious, including these lettuce wraps pictured. The menu did not label the vegan options, but the staff was very helpful and the receipt for our order came out with ‘vegan’ marked under the customizations. It’s definitely a good option to add to the arsenal for UT students and those who work in and around the UT campus.

- Capital City Bakery has finally opened their new storefront in an adorable little house on Cesar Chavez, with convenient parking behind the building. Inside, you’ll find cases filled to the brim with vegan cupcakes, cookies, and cakes to satisfy your sweet tooth – and now, for those who prefer a savory treat, they have kolaches as well! We stopped by to try the vegan ham/cheese, and the sausage/jalapeño/cheese kolaches last weekend, and as you can see by Dan’s face, he was a very happy camper.

- Royers Pie Haven, located in the old Toy Joy Cafe spot, has a delicious vegan cherry pie available by the slice. The pie is not labeled vegan in the store, but it is online, and we were also confidently told in person that it is indeed vegan. This cute little pie shop is a nice place to go if you’re in need of cherry pie, or if you’re looking for an omni-friendly hang out spot. They also have a full coffee menu, with soy milk available. The staff mentioned that their baker was always looking into more vegan and gluten-free pie recipes, so there could be more vegan pie options on our horizon.

- Wheatsvile Co-op South now has made-to-order burritos available at their deli counter, including popcorn tofu as a filling option! We hightailed it down south to try this new option out, and were so excited to learn that we could even stuff buffalo popcorn tofu with vegan blue cheese sauce into our burrito creation. We turned into burrito monsters when faced with all the filling choices, and ended up with a little bit of everything in ours. It did not disappoint. In a world filled with tacos, we’re so excited by this delicious vegan-friendly burrito option!

- Austin Java Tarrytown got off to a rocky start, but it looks like they’re trying hard to make better vegan options. Their updated menu features Hearty Vegan Tempeh in a few of the new dishes, so we decided to give it a whirl. The menu still needs some work, as there were a few things marked vegan that weren’t, but the staff was helpful to make sure that the food that ended up on our plate was indeed vegan. There is a new tempeh curry wrap (pictured), tempeh tacos, chipotle burrito, and even a vegan cupcake option. If you’re a fan of Mother’s Cafe or Kerbey Lane’s vegan options, then these should be up your alley. It’s certainly a great option for anyone who frequents the west side of town.

Red Hot Vegan Bloggers Daniel and Marie spent the month of September sampling, photographing, and writing about their Top 20 Austin Favorites – a list fairly heavy in oily, sugary, and calorie-dense foods. The foods included in their guide are all great, but I realized that list was a far cry from what my top 20 list would be, as I tend to go after foods that are lower in oil, are less calorie-dense, and don’t have faux meats. I was inspired to write my first ever blog post, to chronicle the lighter side of Austin’s vegan food scene. If you’re like me, you may find that you love some of these lighter, but equally delicious, options right here in Austin:

Restaurant News:- Unity Vegan Kitchen’s soft opening is tonight! Head on down to their trailer at 2209 E Cesar Chavez (the lot next door to the future Capital City Bakery storefront) between 5:00pm and 8:00pm tonight to try some crab cakes, muffuletta sandwiches, spring rolls and pineapple cobbler. Welcome to the newest Austin vegan trailer on the block!

- Bistro Vonish, which offers vegan fine dining supper clubs, has just started a Kickstarter campaign with the hopes of opening a vegan fine dining establishment here in Austin. The rewards for contributing to the Kickstarter campaign are compelling, with t-shirts, meals and fresh baked goods as rewards to help getting the restaurant off the ground. It’s no secret that fine-dining is one thing that the vegan scene in Austin is sorely lacking, so hopefully this will be just the kickstart we need.

- Fruit lovers will rejoice at another new trailer on the scene, Health Box. Health Box serves up frozen fruit desserts that are described as ‘fruit poop’. You pick the fruits and vegetables you’d like from their menu, and they serve it up to you sundae style, with different fruit toppings to make your fruit more fruity. ‘Fruit poop’ is just unadulterated fruit and vegetables, with no added sugars or flavorings, perfect for those fruitarians in your life.

- There’s a new trailer next to Red Rabbit Bakery on North Loop, and they’re offering vegan tacos! North Loop is already vegan taco central, but it’s Austin, and tacos are practically our official dish, so the more tacos the merrier I say! Head on over to Taco ‘Bout It to try their black bean mushroom, and sweet potato avocado tacos!

New Menu Items:- Maoz, the international falafel restaurant located in the Triangle, has started serving up a new breakfast menu with vegan options! They offer “The TLT”, a tempeh BLT with vegenaise pita sandwich, and “The ’Fu”, a pita taco or pita sandwich stuffed with tofu scramble, sautéed onions and tempeh bacon. Both options are really tasty, and served up in Maoz’s fluffy pita bread. With breakfast hours Mon-Fri from 8am to 11am, it’s another nice option to have for breakfast up north.

- The national soft serve ice cream chain, TCBY, has announced a new chocolate vegan flavor made from Silk’s almond milk. The chocolate soft serve is available in town at the Martin L King Jr Blvd location near the UT campus and at the South Austin location on Slaughter Lane. Pair the chocolate soft serve with a number of available vegan toppings including fresh fruit and nuts to complete the picture.

- Sauced, the Highland Mall pizza shop, announced that their vegan trial run was so successful that they are rolling out vegan pizza by the slice on Wednesdays and Saturdays! I love pizza, but sometimes (aka most of the time) I’m not in the mood to eat (or pay for) an entire pie. I hope more pizza places jump on this vegan by-the-slice bandwagon.

- The Dojo has expanded their vegan offerings! As if 12 vegan menu items weren’t enough, they went ahead and added 5 more! They’ve now marked a few items that can be made vegan upon request, such as their okoge ankake and their okonomiaki style potatoes, added a few salads, and most excitingly, they offer a vegetable set for their new table grills! I will not deny that The Dojo is my new favorite place in town. The food is good, the management really cares about its vegan customers, and the atmosphere is super laid back. It’s the perfect place for a casual drink after work, or for a full on party. Speaking of parties, look out for an ATX Vegan Drinks at The Dojo in September!

Events:
– The annual Ringling Brothers Circus protest is coming up next week on August 21st. Find more information about the event on the Action For Animals Facebook Event. If animal cruelty at the circus is news to you, please check this page out to learn more about the problems with circuses who use animals as entertainment, and what you can do to help.

Other News:- Since the loss of Austin’s only all vegan catering company to Hawaii, I know a few people have been wondering what catering company is going to fill those vegan shoes. While looking for other vegan-friendly catering companies in town, I was happy to learn that one of latest Natural Epicurian graduates, and awesome Austin vegan Sally Nicely has set up a personal chef/catering company! Simply Nice offers catering services, personal chef services and cooking classes, so future Austin vegan events have no fear, our caterer is here! Know of any other local vegan-friendly caterers? Let us know!

New Grocery Products:
– Upton’s Naturals Bacon Seitan has been spotted at Wheatsville Coop! Some of you may remember my post about this product published over a year ago, begging for this product to hit shelves, and now it has! There’s a bevy of fakin’ bacon products out there from coconut bacon, to grain bacon, to tempeh bacon, but no one has made a commercial seitan bacon until now. I can’t wait to make BLTs and benedicts with it!
– Beyond Meat is finally here as well! Technically, it’s been here for a few weeks, so you’ve probably seen it on the shelves at stores around town, but I know that both Rabbit Food Grocery and Wheatsville definitely have it in stock!
– Sophie’s Kitchen’s lineup of vegan seafood products just keeps getting bigger and bigger! I spotted coconut shrimp and fish sticks at Wheatsville the other day, right alongside their vegan crab cakes, fish filets, calamari and prawns. Is there a seafood product they can’t make out of konjac?

New Menu Items:
– Have you had a chance to check out the adorable little East side bakery Sugar Circus yet? Well if you haven’t, this is the perfect excuse: vegan cake balls! These little moist marvels come in three vegan flavors: double chocolate, vanilla chocolate and cookie dough. Eat one or eat a dozen, it’s up to you!
– My favorite local tempeh company and my favorite local Indonesian restaurant have teamed up to bring you tons of tasty tempeh creations! Head on over to Java Noodles on E Oltorf, and add organic tempeh from The Hearty Vegan to any dish!

Restaurant News:
– We’ve got not one, but two vegan ramen options up in this town! I reviewed the ramen at Ramen Tatsu-Ya last week, so I thought I should stop by Daruma Ramen to compare. The two ramens couldn’t have been more different. From what I can gather from people who know more about ramen than I do, Ramen Tatsu-Ya’s vegan ramen is a more traditional take, while Daruma Ramen tries to do something a little different with a sweet potato broth and salad toppings. If you have a chance to check out both, let me know what you think.
– The Daily Juice in Hyde Park is now a Juiceland, and while I’m super sad that they got rid of all the awesome menu items like the nachos, I’m super happy with the new items in the salad case. I hope I see more food options from them in the future, cuz sometimes it’s nice to grab a meal to go with my ice cream.
– You may have seen them at Texas VegFest, but did you know that Unity Vegan Kitchen is planning on opening up a vegan food trailer sometime this summer? After trying their vegan cannoli at VegFest, I for one, am very excited to see what they plan on bringing to the Austin vegan scene.

Upcoming Events:
– Free this Saturday, April 20th? Why not head on over to the annual Gathering of the Tribes at Pease Park? It’s a large vegan potluck that gathers a good chunk of the different Austin veg groups together in one place. It’s the perfect opportunity to meet some new friends!
– The 2013 World Wide Vegan Bake Sale in Austin is going to be held on Sunday, April 28th at not one, but two locations! Sign up to bake something here, then head over to MonkeyWrench Books or Counter Culture to drop off your goods. The money raised will go towards helping the animals at Sunny Day Farms!
– ATX Vegan Drinks goes south of the border next month with a special “Drinko de Mayo” event at the Vegan Nom on Friday, May 3rd! Come join us for piñata smashing, food specials, music, and BYOB fun.

New Websites:

- ForAnima.com is a new all-vegan online marketplace. With food, beauty, clothing and home goods all in one place, you can conveniently browse for new and exciting vegan products. They have a blog, recipe, service directory and community section of their website too, so you get a little bit of everything, all from one site.

- Vegan Food is Everywhere is an interesting new food mapping website that shows, in a very visual way, that in fact, vegan food is everywhere. The Austin section is lacking, though, so if you have some free time, get on there and let the world know how much awesome food we offer!

About Us

Red Hot Vegans is an Austin lifestyle blog dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest vegan news and reviews – because Austin is awesome, vegans are awesome, and because being a vegan in Austin is the best!